Wednesday, October 14, 2009

Cheap Eats: Cafe Mami

Porter Exchange, located in Porter Square, is filled with Japanese food stalls and restaurants. Take your pick from noodles and rice bowls to pastries. Cafe Mami is just one of the small stalls where you can get great food for cheap.

With nothing on the menu over $9, Cafe Mami offers hearty meals that will warm you up as our days get colder. The Tokyo Hamburg and the Curry are some of the most popular dishes, and they both come with a side salad and miso soup. For real value, though, go to Cafe Mami during lunch (Monday-Friday, 11:45am-2:00pm) and take advantage of the lunch specials for only $5. The Yaki Don (above), slices of beef and onion in a spicy sauce and served over rice, is just one of the five choices (the others are curry, a milder beef, chicken and egg, and veggie and egg). The ingredients are fresh and delicious, and the meals are satisfying and will keep you full for a while. The lunches come with miso soup to warm you up.

Cafe Mami is tiny, with only 12 seats, so you'll probably be sitting with someone you don't know. If there's no room, you can always order take-out. Cafe Mami is located at 1815 Massachusetts Ave in Porter Square, and their hours are 11:45am-8:45pm. Cash only.

Yes, this place has been there a long time and is argueably the busiest of stalls. Great Japanese curry here. Don't miss the others though... Ittyo has great bento boxes and Tampopo has a great dish they named Tampopo-don. Please support these gems... since tge Japanese grocery store was forced out of the building business has been slower they said.